World Coin Bucket Finds

Hi Nazarine and welcome to the forum.

I think you picked out a very nice pair of coins there. You're not going to get very high grade coins out of coin buckets but if that doesn't bother you then keep on picking. Keep on posting your acquisitions and I'm sure other members will chip in with fascinating insights or snippets of info on them.

As for the thickness use a quarter (about 1.7mm) for comparison.

And yes they do knock my socks off (well they would if I wore them!).

Nice finds Nazarene I would have picked them out as well. I love the coinage from the pre-WWII era.

The Russian coin has an interesting feature which can tell you a bit about the machine the coin was made on. Notice the way the reeded edge caused damage to the rim right at the edge of the coin. It is most apparent on the side of the coin with what I would call the State Shield. That effect results from a coin being ejected from a tight collar. The effect is usually more pronounced on one side which shows the direction the collar die was moving when the coin was being ejected. That in turn identifies the hammer and anvil dies provided you understand the specific coining press.

Modern coin presses are typically similar - although some minor differences do occur - especially in the collar. But lets say we know that the USSR was using a "standard" 3 die press with a rising collar (very typical of the majority). There is a stationary die (the anvil die) mounted in the press. The anvil die contains the design of one side of the coin. Around the anvil die is the collar die. The collar moves up and down and it contains the edge design. The hammer die is the moving die (mounted on essentially a piston) that imparts the design of the second side.

So there are three dies NOT TWO in most modern presses.

At the start of the stroke of the piston - there is a space between the anvil and hammer dies. Fingers insert a blank planchet on top of the anvil die (The name fingers recalls the old days when a human inserted the blank). Then the collar die rises catching and holding the planchet in place over the anvil die. Then the hammer die drops (or is driven) into the top surface. The three dies together form the coining chamber which exists only a fraction of a second while the immense pressure causes the metal in the planchet to flow like a semi-liquid into all of the features on all three dies.

The coin is born at this instant.

Then the hammer die pulls back and the collar drops. Actually the collar is pulled down because the coin metal has been forced into every tiny nick and crevasse in the collar die and FORCE is required. This force pulling downward toward the anvil die creates the distortion seen on the downward side of the coin as metal from the coin's edge is dragged to and beyond the face of the coin. The coin is ejected from the press by the fingers and the process repeats.

Several times a second.

So on your Russian 10 Kopeck coin the State seal is on the Anvil die and the Man and date are on the Hammer die - provided there was a rising collar in use at that time. Most mints actually publish the type of equipment in use so someone familiar with Russian coining technology would know for sure. A bit of research can confirm the type (google is great).

Just a brief lesson covering commonly known but often forgotten facts that any beginner needs to know.

Thank you all very much. I didn't find anything to retire off of :) but I am having a great time looking at and learning about the coins. I got a couple reference books from the library. One even had the book on CD in it, so I put it in my computer. Maybe i'll post a few more pics later of some of the more interesting (to me) coins from "the bucket." It literally is a bucket (somewhat fancy, but a bucket nonetheless.) I appreciate the welcomes, encouragement and information. Swamperbob... wow, thanks that was quite a lesson and ineresting.

One thing I have learned thus far is that I don't care for aluminum coins. Too light. I prefer some heft to my coinage. Anyway.....

Some aluminum coins are nice
This one makes me want to sail to Tahiti


French Oceania 5 Francs 1952
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Roman Coins, Mexican Coins, Favorite Coins, Movie Coins
The San Francisco Mint 1949 Mexico Peso Restrike for China

Hi 'Nazarene', welcome aboard. Those are very nice coins you've aquired. Some people under estimate the kind of coins people might find in the bargain bin. Here's one I found a few years ago in the 10 cent bin. This is 10 Reichspfennig from the GERMANY (THIRD REICH) 1945 A. While most of these coins are common as dirt, the 1945 issues are very scarce since the reich was on the very of collapse, and thus fewer were minted.




GERMANY (THIRD REICH)~10 Reichspfennig 1945 A